Last Saturday night, after a car accident, a friend and I volunteered to take an injured pedestrian to the nearest hospital for treatment.

Last Saturday night, after a car accident, a friend and I volunteered to take an injured pedestrian to the nearest hospital for treatment.

The accident happened in Bellville, so we took her to Carl Bremer Hospital.

The nurses refused to attend to her because it is there for "medical cases". We had to go to Tygerberg Hospital because our patient was classified a "trauma case".

I thought our hospitals had to treat an emergency case before deciding what to do next. I politely asked them to stabilise the patient but they wouldn't budge.

We drove to Tygerberg and were ushered into the accident unit. There was only one patient ahead of us but it took us 30 minutes to be attended to.

I pleaded with the "busy" nursing staff but was advised to approach the on-duty sister, who arrived 30 minutes later.

After asking a few questions she said they could not treat the patient because we were supposed to get a referral from Kraaifontein Day Hospital first.

She said that was a policy directive from the Western Cape health department.

I pleaded with her to stabilise the patient but again the request was ignored.

As a taxpayer I ask why I am expected to fund a health system that is likely to "put me down" when I am sick.

Thabo Shaku, Cape Town